Postlude
by Singing Violin
Summary: After one of those 3-D movie events, Tom Paris cleans up. JC.


Title: Postlude  
Series: Star Trek: Voyager  
Rating: K  
Summary: After one of those 3-D movie events, Tom Paris cleans up.  
Disclaimer: Not mine  
Archiving: Anywhere  
Feedback: Please

The floor is littered with popcorn and soda spills, and I shake my head, imagining how much more difficult it would be to clean if the entire theater, completely photonic except for the food, didn't disappear at one command, leaving the floor accessible, if dirty.

Before I order the janitorial robot to mop the sticky floor, my eyes are drawn towards an orphaned pair of boots. Smiling, I walk over and pick them up. I know they belong to Captain Janeway, and after the robot appears, I exit the holodeck and make my way towards Deck 3 to return them.

She'd looked fatigued, but not much more than usual. I wonder whether she protested when Commander Chakotay came to her quarters to pick her up for the event. I imagine she objected, informing him that she had work to do, and he gently but firmly insisted that the event wouldn't be the same without her, that the captain's presence was vital for crew morale. Giving her every excuse except for the truth – that he really wanted to sit beside her, pretending he was on a romantic date with the woman of his dreams.

He didn't even get the chance to sneak an arm around the back of her chair before she succumbed.

It started as a quiet rumble, almost inaudible amidst the sounds of the film. However, the rhythmic noise grew louder, and eventually people started whispering and turning their heads to see where it was coming from.

The captain hadn't taken off her 3-D glasses, despite the fact that the movie had instructed us to remove them several minutes ago.

It was then that I saw the commander gently nudging her, to which her reaction was to slump against him, her head on his shoulder, still snoring peacefully. The annoyed murmuring grew slightly louder, though nobody was brave enough to do anything; after all, they didn't want to get on the captain's bad side, and presumably, her desperate need for sleep could be traced back to some negligence on their part that caused her extra trouble…

Not wanting my event to be ruined, I gave Chakotay a meaningful look. He nodded at me, gently pushed her head back onto her own side, then ducked down below the seats. I know now that he was removing her footwear. Moments later, he stood, the captain cradled in his arms.

Heads turned, but nobody dared speak. The disturbance was being removed, and they could go back to watching the movie. I wonder how long it took to get back into it though; personally the image of the commander carrying the captain out occupied my thoughts for most of the rest of the event. Then again, I'd seen this movie before.

I'm almost there, and I wonder briefly whether the captain is in her own quarters or the commander's. I don't know that he could type the code to hers – I'm pretty sure he knows it – without waking her – so he might have opted just to put her into his own bed. Knowing the big guy, he'd then lie out on the couch for the night, ever the gentleman. Or perhaps afraid of her wrath when she awoke…presumably she'll already be nonplussed with having to be carried out of the theater in front of her entire crew…

I consider asking the computer where the captain is, but think better of it. If she's spending the night in the commander's quarters, this is definitely something I don't need to know about. I'd have to tell B'Elanna, of course, and probably Harry too, and sooner or later the whole ship would know.

They know too much already. Probably assume more than I do. I wonder when those two will both finally wake up and smell the proverbial coffee…

For now, I place the boots neatly outside the door. I imagine one of them will find them in the morning. I'll leave her a message too, bcc'ing Chakotay just in case he wants to retrieve them before she awakens.

Again, temptation visits me, but I steel myself and reverse course. Wherever the captain and the commander are sleeping is none of my business, as long as it's not in my theater, but my own wife is waiting for me in my bed, and if I don't join her soon, her wrath will not compare to the captain's when she wakes up and doesn't remember how she got to bed...


End file.
